


Veela you marry me

by Nervousmilkshaketrash



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Battle of Hogwarts, F/M, Good Draco Malfoy, Lemon, Post-Battle of Hogwarts, Pregnant Hermione Granger, Veela Draco Malfoy, dramione - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-04
Updated: 2017-10-29
Packaged: 2018-11-09 02:12:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11094744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nervousmilkshaketrash/pseuds/Nervousmilkshaketrash
Summary: Draco is veela, shit happens





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Just throwing this out there, please let me know what you think of it

**SHELL COTTAGE, MAY 1**

"I'm quite alright, just having an allergic reaction is all." Hermione said annoyedly.

She crossed her arms in front of her chest as she sent them her best McGonnagall-like stern stare. How dare they question her like this? Who did they think they were? It wasn't her fault her body had started throwing allergic fits every now and then. She couldn't help it and thought them suggesting otherwise to be very rude.

"My stomach is just fine. Are you seriously fat-shaming me right now? I know I've gained a few pounds, but I really don't see how that's any of your business! If anything you should be happy for me! I'll be needing the extra pounds for the battle."

"Hermione, it's not th..." Harry cleared his voice, apparently at loss for words while Ron simply stood there, moping at her. This was so not going the way they'd hoped.

She shook her head at their audacity. What the hell was the matter with them? While she knew Harry and Ron weren't like the perfect gentlemen in the many of books she'd read, they'd never criticized her looks before. Hermione reckoned they hadn't really looked at her at all. They hadn't realized she was an actual girl until their fourth year at the yule ball and that hadn't changed much anyway. So why the hell was it they felt the need to give a damn about how she looked now that they were in the middle of a freaking war, on the lookout for horcruxes? Why did it matter she had gained a few pounds, developed a distaste for some dishes she previously had liked and sometimes was sick at certain times of the day? They were at war, Hermione would have been more worried if she felt fine.

She sighed at the look of their shocked faces and sat back down by the table. She didn't mean to lash out at them like this, she just couldn't help it. They were about to rob the wizarding bank of Gringotts, not an easy feat considering it had never been done before. It was deemed an impossible task, no wonder she was stressed. "Let's just get this over with." She mumbled, massaging her aching temples with her fingertips.

"We didn't mean to... criticize you, you know we don't care about... things like _that_." Harry tried to continue as Ron's ears turned bright red. "We're just worried about you! Are you sure you are up to doing this today? You've been running back and forth from the bathroom ever since we got back from..." - "I'm fine!" Hermione all but shouted.

"We can wait a day or two if you'd like..." Ron began, but was quickly shut down by another McGonnagall-like glare.,

"If we are to do this, we have to do it as soon as possible. Seriously, I get that you're concerned and it's not that I don't appreciate... it because I do, but we're at war here. There's no time for trivial concerns when the stakes are so high." Hermione argued, gripping the table so hard her knuckles turned white. Was she the only one who seemed to understand how slim of a chance they really had at getting this right. And that was even if they didn't wait another couple of days. In her opinion they had no choice, it was now or never!

**MALFOYR MANOR, MAY 1**

It was a well hidden secret that the Malfoys had a high percentage of Veela in their blood, but it was getting increasingly harder to hide it each day that passed. Especially for Draco who hadn't been experiencing the side effects until quite recently. A recent episode with a certain much despised mud blood hadn't helped either.

When he wasn't pacing around whatever room his parents enclosed him in, he was frantically surfing through every sort of media out there for news of them, of _her_. She'd made him go absolutely nuts by leaving so abruptly and he loathed her for it, loathed her for making him go through this. It was like going through puberty again, only fifty fucking times worse. He assumed this must be what cancer felt like. The fact that he knew her leaving actually was for the best didn't help one bit.

At this hour he was busy reading through the newspaper article for what seemed like the three hundredth time that day. Even the moving picture of the golden trio escaping the bank of Gringotts on a freaking dragon had started lagging. While the quality of the picture hadn't been the best in the first place, Draco was still convinced he could tell that little miss Granger seemed to be in a not too good state. Blast it all. It would be pretty fucking pathetic, not to mention impractical, if she died before the actual battle were to take place. He couldn't have that.

He rushed out of his chambers just in time to run into Snape. Their eyes met and for a second Draco could swear Snape knew exactly what he was up to and where he was headed. Even worse was that he didn't think Snape seemed inclined to stop him, although he knew what impact his actions could have. He simply gave Malfoy a short nod before hurrying on to wherever it was the Dark Lord had summoned him to. It put Draco off for a good twenty seconds before he came to it and continued down the hall.

The dark lord had issued an order, commanding everyone that supported him to gather around Hogwarts. Draco wanted to get there before they did. He knew the golden trio would show up too when they realized their friends at school were fucked. It wasn't something he supported; he didn't actually want the Dark Lord to win, but seeing how he was pretty sure he would, he couldn't make himself known a traitor just yet. That was why he let himself out of the manor at the middle of the night, he didn't want anyone to know. He would do whatever necessary to save the skin of himself and those he cared about. And while the smartest thing for him to do now was to be safe and go with the flow. He sure as hell wasn't going to help that Psychopath.


	2. You're welcome

Hermione wasn't sure what had surprised her the most; that they'd gotten into Gringotts or that they'd gotten out. While they'd been successful with fetching the cup, they managed to lose the blasted sword in the process. So they had the horcrux; but without the means to destroy it. Which got them nowhere. But Hermione supposed they ought to be grateful they'd managed to escape with their lives intact, for it certain hadn't been a given.

They'd jumped off the dragon when they were sure they'd survive the fall, afraid what it might do if it landed and noticed it had guests. From the looks of it the poor thing seemed to have been starving for quite some time. She didn't have that great knowledge of dragons, but could recognize signs of starvation. Hopefully it too, would pack on a few now that it was free. She truly wished it wouldn't be recaptured. It had experienced enough shite to last a lifetime. Maybe Ron could contact Charlie when this was all over?

After changing back into their old clothes, Hermione vowed to never wear such dreadful clothes ever again, the trio returned to Hogsmead. It was a wonder they didn't expose themselves to a pair of death eaters when they appeared. The two were probably too drunk to even be able to realize it had Voldemort himself showed up in the middle of the street. For once they were in luck.

They met Dumbledore's brother Aberforth and was given a way into the school. Even though she was perfectly aware of his existence and that the Dumbledore she had adored so much was quite dead, their alikeness had still shocked her so greatly she for a second had mistaken him for their beloved headmaster. One look at Harry and Ron had revealed they had thought the same. While it hurt because it reminded her that she would never see him again, she was also reminded of the importance of the task at hand. They still had a couple of horcruxes to go and according to Aberforth, they didn't have a lot of time left. Voldemort had gathered an army and seemed ready to strike at any moment.

And so they hurried back to school. The secret passage led them into the room of requirements, which had transformed into a major dormitory. Most of the inhibitors were members of Dumbledore's army, but there was also a remarkable amount of new faces too. The reunion was heartwarming and awful at the same time. The year hadn't been easy for anyone, least the muggle born and sympathizers, not to mention the friends of Harry Potter and the members of Dumbledore's army. The fact that they couldn't provide their fellow students with any useful or inspiring information had felt awful.

They couldn't tell them why the hell they had been MIA for so many months without revealing their secret mission. The secret mission they had yet to complete, still having three horcruxes to find and four to destroy. Hermione almost felt relieved leaving the room to look for an article of Ravenclaw's. She hated the fact that the fate of the world, wizarding and muggle, lay in their hands. It was such a heavy burden to bear. She didn't want to think about what would happen should they fail.

The thoughts steaming in her mind made her oblivious to the path she was taking, not that it really mattered seeing how she had no idea what to even look for, nevertheless where. They were grasping at straws, none the wiser. While she hurried off she at least made sure not to be seen. With Snape still running the school, letting death eaters roaming around it was just not safe. She'd been captured once and would prefer it not happen again.

She didn't seem to realize she was headed towards the girls, slightly haunted, bathroom on the first floor before the door slammed shut behind her, making her jump. She almost expected moaning Myrtle to appear and yell at her for the loud intrusion, but the bathroom was discernibly quiet. A sigh escaped her lips, why had her unconsciouess led her here? She was looking for an item of Ravenclaw's, and seriously doubted such a thing could be found in a bathroom. She was about to leave when a thought of genius hit her.

They weren't only looking for another horcrux, they were still in need of something that could destroy them. In their second year Harry had destroyed a horcrux with a fang of the vicious basilisk. While it had been dead for a long time, she was pretty sure it was still there. That would solve one of their problems.

While she hadn't been there to see how Harry had opened the chamber the first time, she had been told the tale many a time and happened to know the words that would grant her access. Harry talking in his sleep seemed to be a blessing in disguise.

After finding the right faucet, Hermione cleared her voice and spoke the words she'd heard her best friend moan in his sleep so many times before. While it to her simply sounded like a random string of hushing noises, it did the trick. Astounded she took a step back when the sinks rearranged so that a hole in the tiles came into sight.

While she knew that it technically wasn't that far to the ground, she still couldn't say she looked forward into taking a leap into what looked like a whole lot of nothingness. It wasn't that she was afraid of heights, she just didn't like the thought of going about throwing herself into dark holes in the ground. Still, she mustered up some of that Gryffindor courage and jumped before she could change her mind.

As she landed nicely in a heap of bones, the only thing she was hearing was the thumping sound of her rapidly beating heart. The adrenaline pumping through her body felt nice as she rushed deeper into the creepy chamber. She could only imagine how Harry and Ron must have felt at that time, especially with Ginny's life at stake, knowing the possibility of running into a giant lethal basilisk was high. If they could do it then, she certainly could now.

Yet again she'd failed to notice that she wasn't alone. For while the bathroom certainly had been quiet when she entered it, it had not been empty. Draco Malfoy had gotten quite surprised when he witnessed Hermione Granger, his old nemesis, open what couldn't be anything but the chamber of secrets on her own. When the hell had she learned to speak parseltongue? It had caught him off guard for sure, so sufficiently he hadn't even managed to make his presence known to her before she threw herself down the hole that had appeared in the middle of the faucets.

What the hell could she possibly want to be doing down there? She must not have noticed he was here. She had come there because of him, of that he was sure. If she hadn't started speaking in parseltongue, opening the blasted chamber in the process, he wouldn't have been sidetracked and could have gotten her the hell out of there and to safety, which was why he had come in the first place. He didn't like the thought of following her down there through a tunnel of darkness, but what other option did he have?

It wasn't that he suddenly was shy of her, the reason he followed her so discreetly was obviously because he wanted to see what the hell she was up to, yup. She came to a halt outside a creepy round door with a bunch of snakes and spewed out a couple words of parsel tongue again, probably demanding that it open seeing how it did shortly after. Draco then proceeded to continue following her, gathering they must have arrived in the heart of the chamber. It was huge, gloomy, cold and utterly creepy. In other words, exactly like he had expected.

Still, he couldn't possibly fathom why the dark lord was all about this old cave. Sure, it had some cool architecture, but was nothing more in the end but a creepy old snakehive. He remembered the Weaselgirl had been taken and almost killed here. What a terrible place to die, Draco thought before stopping when he noticed the giant dead basilisk Granger now confidently was approaching.

He watched as she lifted her hand towards one of its great fangs. She wasn't going to touch that without a glove or something, was she? Surely, she must know how lethal those things were? Apparently not. He watching dumbfoundedly as she continued stretching towards the damn thing. Fucking hell, he couldn't let her do that. He continued cursing inwardly as he stepped out of the shadows.

"OI!! What the hell do you think you're doing?!"  
Hermione jumped higher than ever, but still managed to turn mid air and direct her wand towards the source of the noise before landing.

"Expelliarmus!" She shouted before even identifying her intruder. When she did recognize him as Draco Malfoy, his wand had already flown into her hand, not that she wouldn't disarm him if she'd known who her stalker was.

"Malfoy?" It was but a whisper, still he obviously must have heard her, considering the ugly smirk that appeared on his face.

"Glad to see you didn't lose all your brain cells riding that dragon out of Gringotts." He replied. Even though he was practically defenseless against her, he didn't seem any less confident. It annoyed her a great deal actually. Who the hell did he think he was? Didn't he know who she was? He ought to be very afraid of her, especially considering the circumstances around their last encounter.

Despite his cheekiness and it obviously not being a smart move, Hermione still wanted to be closer to him for some unknown reason. She felt drawn to him, like those bloody flies who always ends up toasted because they can't help but fly into the darned lamps.

It wasn't natural. She ought to hate him, at least stay the hell away, but felt that she couldn't. Even aiming their wands at him was something she struggled with. Her body was fighting it and Hermione didn't know how long she could keep up.

"What the hell are you doing here, Malfoy?"

"I could ask you the same.." She wanted to hex the stupid smirk off his face, but found herself taking steps backwards when he started approaching her instead. She seemed to have forgotten she was armed while he was not.

He shrugged and stopped walking when he realized he probably shouldn't be freaking her out more than necessary at this point. Besides, if she kept backing away from him, she'd end up in that filthy water. He wouldn't wish that on anyone. "I've always wanted to see this giant snake, I just didn't know how to get in. You're welcome for that by the way."

He put his hands in his pockets and looked at the ugly monster with obvious fascination.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Hermione spluttered. She had a terrible hunch, but didn't want to believe it. It would challenge everything she had ever believed in.

"Second year, Granger." He began, fondly. "Surely you would never have figured it out hadn't I made sure you found that note." His gaze returned to her. Up until a couple of months ago he was sure he'd never tell a living soul about it, but shit happened and here they were.


	3. DONT TOUCH VENOMONOUS FANGS WITHOUT FUCKING GLOVES

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Read Chapter Title

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been terrible negligent lately and for that I'm sorry, I'll be better:) The next chapter will be long af  
> Please point out any errors you encounter

Hermione continued scowling at him. Of course she remembered. She had been at her wits end when the solution had magically appeared. She had fallen asleep in the library and woken up with the solution, written on a piece of paper ripped out of a book, in her hand. But before she got around to tell Harry and Ron, the beast had petrified her. Luckily she’d managed to hold on to the paper and by some stroke of luck, they boys had found it. She couldn’t believe Draco was implying he was the reason they’d been able to shut down the chamber and save the school at a time where they suspected him to be the culprit.

But then again, considering his father was majorly responsible for it, he couldn’t be all innocent. He must have known about it the whole time. Hermione sure didn’t feel like she owed him any thanks.

«What? You expect a round of applause or something?»

She didn’t give in to the inner self of her that wanted to put her wand down. Of course she didn’t trust him. He’d never given her a reason too. Whatever reason her body had to not want to hurt him wasn’t plausible.

«You probably knew all along anyway.» Judging by the look on his face, Hermione was right.

«A decent person wouldn’t have allowed something like that to start in the first place.» She added. So he’d done at least two good deeds in his life, that wasn’t enough to make up for all the bad things he’d done, not by far.

«Come on, Granger, I was twelve.» She didn’t have to be that hard on him. He'd been but a child. She’d met his father, she ought to know that there’s no standing up to someone like that, especially when you’re adolescent. He actually used to worship his father. That had been the year of realization.

If she hadn’t still been pointing her wand at him, she’d cross her arms and roll her eyes. She was about to argue that age didn’t matter when she remembered she was here for a reason. It certainly wasn’t to argue Draco Malfoy. «You know what? I don’t have time for this. People are dependent on me and I do not intend on letting them down!»

Draco nodded curtly. «Alright. But I’m not going to let you die from being stupid enough to touch a venomous basilisk fang without fucking gloves, just so we’re clear.»

«What?»

«You heard me, put on some damn gloves, Granger.»

Stunned, she did as he said. Did he really just save her life again? While Harry basically had been impaled, he’d survived because of Dumbledore’s pet phoenix. A pet phoenix no one had seen since the death of it's owner. Hermione’s luck was nowhere near Harry’s. Was Draco freaking Malfoy about to become her good luck charm? No, that was just too weird. She couldn’t be that unfortunate?

«For the love of Merlin, would you put the wand down? Haven’t I proven you’re not in any danger with me? Just grab the fang already, get it over with.»

«Fine! Don’t tell me what to do!» Hermione said annoyedly before proceeding to do exactly as she’d been told.

Not until after the fang was safely secured in her magical expendable bag did she turn around to face him again. «I don’t have time for whatever it is that you want. I have a world to save and…»

«…horcruxes to destroy. I know, Granger, I’m here to help.» That annoying smirk appeared on his face once again. Probably because he once again made her speech less. She’d never imagine anyone else knowing about Voldemort’s dirty little secret, especially not  _him._  Did he really confide that much in Malfoy?

«What do you m…» He silenced her once again by lazily dismissing her with a wave of his hand. Her pathetic attempt at lying was just that, pathetic. Especially when he knew he was right.

«Don’t bother, I know everything. I’m guessing you’ve got like what… three to go?» The look on her face confirmed his suspicions, which made him quite happy. Draco liked being right.

«So what? You’ve switched sides all of a sudden?» Hermione actually crossed her arms in front of her chest this time, disbelief written all over her face. Hermione considered herself quite an understanding person,but this? No, impossible. Draco had been both born and raised on the wrong side. Once you go black, you don’t go back. She firmly believed this. Still, she did want an answer.

«Something like that.» He shrugged, seemingly bored with the topic. «Shall we go? I think I know where the next horcrux is.»

«How do I know this isn’t a trap? How do I know you haven’t got death eaters waiting for us?» She wanted to believe him, she really did. Hermione thought it was very important to try and see the best in people. She believed most people were good at heart. But this was Draco Malfoy, the boy that had been pestering her life ever since they first met. He couldn’t suddenly be good?

She was right about one thing. People didn’t suddenly change. Draco believed people never really changed at all. But the Draco she’d seen throughout the years wasn’t his true self. He was only acting that way to keep up with appearances. It was true he sometimes he got carried away, but separating himself from the role he played wasn't easy. Things got heated when dealing with Hermione Granger. Even though he didn’t really care about her heritage, it wasn’t nice being outsmarted by her. She was so damn fiery and a fucking know-it-all too.

«I guess you’ll just have to trust me.» The flashback hit her hard. She saw it all over again. Him, shirtless, hair all over the place and with look on his face she’d never seen there before as he helped them escape. It was because of him they’d gotten out of the Malfoy Manor. Well, Dobby too. But he would never have known they were even there had it not been for Draco.

A short while later, it proved Hermione did right in trusting him again. There were no death eaters looming in the dark when they came back through the the pipe to the bathroom. She appreciated that he didn’t gloat about it.

She let him lead her towards what turned out to be the room of requirements, not the provisional dormitory - but what must be a rather large storage, while he told her what he knew about Ravenclaw's article. There were piles upon piles of random objects. Things people had left there to hide and most likely forgotten about or never been able to retrieve. How the hell were they going to find a diadem here? Draco must have noticed the confused look on her face because he started leading her down one of the many possible paths shortly after. It was even bigger than she had originally thought, but for some reason she trusted that he’d locate it. What she didn’t expect was running into none other than Harry and Ron.

It was cheesy, made her feel incredibly stupid and really hurt. But of course, what worse was when they discovered who they’d run into. «Hermione! How did you know we were he… Malfoy??»

At this point Draco really wished Hermione had given him his wand back. She’d refused it when he had ‘suggested’ it on the way here. She had claimed she needed some kind of insurance. He didn’t push it. He needed to stay on her good side. He knew she’d be pretty pissed when she discovered his plans for her.

«Good to see you haven’t gone completely blind yet, Potty.» It wasn’t particularly witty, he knew that. He couldn’t help himself. Potter had this special ability to make his blood boil, nothing like Hermione of course, but still significantly enough to force such childishness out of him.

«What the hell are you doing here, you filthy ferret?» Ron was no better.

The boys wands were out and directed towards the blonde before Hermione had the chance to even open her mouth. Not that this surprised her. She was rather proud of them for it actually. Constant vigilance! «No! It’s okay, he’s actually helping!» She proceeded to place herself in front of Draco, shielding him from Harry and Ron, just in case. «He knows where the next horcrux is, it’s the diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw.»

While neither of the boys seemed any less exasperated by this, they at least lowered their wands, slightly

«Since when did Malfoy switch side?»

 


	4. Destroying the diadem and realizing shit

**HOGWARTS, MAY 1**

 

Hermione didn't answer because she didn't know. "Does it matter? He's here to help." Frankly, she felt relieved that they had another person on the horcrux-destroyer-team. The how's and when's didn't matter right now. They could interrogate him after the war. She even had his wand, what harm could he do? 

Harry was about to argue this when Malfoy happened to pull the diadem out of a heap. "Knew it was around here somewhere." He stated, obviously satisfied with himself. The smirk on his face was big.

Ron shot him an incredulous look, while Hermione simply shook her head in disbelief. They'd been here for like five minutes. What were the odds of him knowing its exact location? They should have gotten Malfoy on their team sooner. Maybe then they would've been able to stop this whole thing before it got the chance to start.

"Okay.. but we still don't have anything to destroy it with." Harry said, not putting his wand away, but lowering it at least. No, he didn't trust Malfoy. The only reason he hadn't hexed his ass was because Hermione still was standing in the way. He couldn't understand what the hell had gotten into her. After Voldemort, Malfoy was pretty much villain #1. He was rotten through and through and always had been. Whatever kind of trick he was playing at, Harry wasn't buying it. 

"Actually." Hermione pulled out a basilisk fang, gloves on of course. "You talk in your sleep." She explained. To which Ron conformingly nodded. They both knew a phrase or ten in parseltongue. 

"Well great. Go on then, destroy it. “ - “No, not you. Him.” Harry interrupted when Hermione reached towards the diadem. He wanted Malfoy to prove his alleged new loyalty by doing it. Surely he wouldn’t have any problems with it? It wouldn’t be the first time his hands got dirty, and this time it’d even be for a good cause.

Draco shrugged. What, did Potty expect that to scare him? As if he hadn’t already betrayed everyone and everything simply by refraining to alert everyone of the golden trio’s whereabouts. And he had gone even further, he was bloody helping them! He’d always taken Potty for an imbecile, but didn’t think he was this senseless. Whatever. He’d jump at the chance of ending a part of Voldemort’s soul.

He made sure to put on his gloves before taking the fang out of Granger’s hands. Despite of their gloves, it felt like he was struck by fucking lightning when their hands touched. He knew she felt it too. Unlike him, she was a terrible actress. Her eyes shot open and her cheeks reddened. She avoided meeting his eyes, keeping her gaze fixed on the fang while taking a few steps back. Horcruxes usually put up a fight when they felt threatened. Best to stay at a safe distance. 

Harry and Ron couldn’t help but notice Hermione’s strange behavior and shared a quick look before directing their attention back at Malfoy and the diadem which he’d placed on the ground. Whatever was going on with her would have to wait. 

Draco raised the fang and without pause, smashed the diadem. It broke in half and out seeped a dark fog that shortly after evaporated. It was kinda anticlimactic. 

At least that was what they all seemed to think before the world started to rumble. Malfoy got up on his feet just in time to not be squashed by a huge closet that fell over by the tumult. All around them the piles of things were falling apart. Like an earthquake had taken part in the room of requirement. And they were standing in the middle of it. 

“Run!” Harry shouted before turning a sculpture into water before it hit Malfoy. Instead of being crushed to death, he got wet.

“This way!” Ron pointed towards what looked like a door in the far end of the room and started leading the way. Except from Malfoy they all had their wands up, trying to protect themselves from being killed by random falling objects. 

Still they were far from the door and the road ahead was getting blocked. There seemed no way out. This couldn’t be. They couldn’t die here, Hermione thought. They were so close! 

“Take my hand!” Malfoy suddenly shouted from a place above her. She raised her head and  was astonished to see him on a broom. But there was no time for questions, so she simply obliged, ignoring the electric feeling she got when she grabbed his hand and let him lift her up on the broom. He threw another broom at Harry and Ron before taking off towards the door. Hermione felt uncomfortably lightheaded being so close to him, but she couldn’t exactly let go of him. She was clutching on for dear life. If she let go, she’d fall off. She shut her eyes closed to avoid looking down. If there was one thing she hated more than random earthquakes it was heights. 

Luckily they were out before she managed to have a nervous breakdown, Harry and Ron following shortly after. Unlike Malfoy’s smooth landing, they collided with the floor. It looked painful. 

She realized she was still holding onto Malfoy, and abruptly let go before moving towards the boys to help them up. “Are you okay?” She asked. Even though she had had a non-turbulent flight. She was the one out of breath. 

“Yes, excellent.” Harry muttered and brushed off some dust from his clothes while keeping his eyes on Malfoy.

Once again a possible discussion was stopped by the sound of someone coming their way. Harry was about to pull out his invisibility cloak when he saw who that someone was. 

Luna was followed by Ginny and Neville, but also Blaise Zabini, Pansy Parkinson and Daphne Greengrass. Ron grabbed his wand, ready to strike if they had or would hurt his sister and friends. 

“Ginny?” It was Hermione, who for the record had put both her and Malfoy’s wands away. 

Upon discovering the bruises on his sister’s face, Ron raised his wand towards the Slytherins. “What have you done to her?!” He bellowed. 

  
“Ron!” Ginny shrieked, jumping in front of them just like Hermione had earlier. “Stop! They didn’t do this!” - “What? Are they on our side too now?!” Her brother spat.

“Yes.” It was Luna who answered, calm as ever. “They have been ever since Snape took over the school.” She explained. “Oh, hi Hermione. Do you feel well? Your face is awfully red.” She asked, seeming rather concerned. 

“Uh…” - For once, Hermione was happy to be interrupted - “We don’t have time for this. Everyone are gathering in the great hall.” Harry turned towards Daphne with a wondrous look on his face. 

“Now wait just a second. How do we know this isn’t a trap?” - “How are we to believe that these people, who have been pestering everyone every since the first grade, suddenly are all goody good? I don’t believe it.” 

He was expecting a fight, or at least some nasty comments. Anything but this. Blaise, Pansy, Daphne and even Malfoy. They all looked...remorseful. In all his days, he’d never seen them like this. 

“We know. We know… Its not…” Pansy started. “...It’s hard to believe, but it doesn’t make any less true. Being on his side… it’s not an option.” - “He doesn’t care…?! Whether we are on his side or not! The only one he cares about is himself.” - “And killing Harry of course..” She added. 

“We may not agree on a lot of things.” Pansy cleared her voice and looked Ron straight in the eye. “But I will not support evil like that.”

Ron was stunned. If anyone, he might have believed Blaise could have said something like this. But Pansy Parkinson… She was the meanest, most despicable girl he had ever met. And yet… He believed her. There was pain in her eyes. It made him think she’d experienced what she was talking about first hand. 

“They’ve been gathering information for Dumbledore’s Army. Pretending to be on side with the death eaters, but only to help us.” Neville explained.

“Crabbe and Goyle were too…” Daphne almost whispered. “They… they were killed.” Ginny squeezed her hand gently. She’d never in her wildest day thought she’d mourn the deaths of Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. But in the last couple of months, she’d gotten to know the boys and taken a liking to them. They were funny as hell. Crabbe made the best cupcakes and Goyle had kept their spirits up. They hadn’t been the sharpest knives, but they’d been fiercely brave. They had stood up to everything they had ever known and had every belief challenged. Hell, their fathers were a part of Voldemort’s inner circle. She absolutely shared Daphne’s grief. A lot had changed the months Harry, Ron and Hermione had been away.

Through all of this Draco had been quiet. Hermione finally dared look at him and caught his eyes. Crabbe and Goyle had been good friends of him as far as she knew. That they’d been killed hadn’t exactly been broadcasted in neither the newspapers nor the radio. While that didn’t surprise her, Voldemort most definitely wouldn’t want the world to know that he had traitors in his ranks, it did sadden her. No one knew of their bravery. They’d already been branded death eaters by the world. If she survived this war, she’d make sure everyone would know. 

Poor Draco. She didn’t know what she’d do if her two best friends were killed. How would she function? Truly, she felt for him. Hadn’t the situation been the current, she might have hugged him.

“Shit, sorry, okay. I believe you.” Ron swallowed the lump in his throat. Crabbe and Goyle killed for their cause. It was a day for anything.

Blaise cleared his voice to get everyone’s attention. “Now that we’ve established that, I really think we should be getting to the great hall.”

There was a murmur of yeses and conformingly sounds before they started walking towards the stairs. 

Daphne grabbed Harry’s arm. “You can’t just go in there like that.” She said, to everyone’s surprise. “They’ll see you.” She added when he didn’t catch on. He didn’t think she cared about his wellbeing, but after what Pansy told them, she believed she was being sincere. 

“She’s right.” Hermione said. “You should put on your cloak.” 

“There’s no room for all of us.” Harry argued to which Malfoy rolled his eyes. 

“Don’t be stupid, Potter. It’s you he wants. Put on the bloody cloak.”


End file.
